Somewhere in the Twin Cities, a pair of bald eagles and their eggs are getting used to life on camera. This morning, the state Department of Natural Resources switched on a live feed of the birds' nest.

Both birds nesting. The camera went live inside the DNR earlier this season, and today, launches for the public.

via the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource's live cam

These birds aren't strangers to celebrity-level attention. The DNR first
installed a live feed camera at this site last year, when two eagles --
likely the same pair -- began hanging around the area. But last year,
the birds' nest failed: The couple laid their eggs in the frigid first
week of January, and after the expected Valentine's Day hatch time came
and went, the eggs eventually crumbled without yielding chicks.

Now,
though, DNR biologists are hopeful. For one thing, the birds seem to
have learned. This year, they laid their first egg last Friday, on last
year's hatch date -- Valentine's Day -- and the later start means better
weather for incubating. They also brought dry grasses into this year's
nest, and used them to build an insulating bowl around the eggs.

"It's
pretty cool," says Lori Naumann, a non-game wildlife specialist with
the DNR. "The eggs seem much more protected from the elements this year.
I think they have a much better chance to hatch."

One-half of the celeb eagle couple.

via the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource's live cam

The nest is in the Twin Cities, but the DNR is staying mum on its precise location in
order to protect the eagles. Biologists aren't certain these birds are
the same couple that nested in this spot last year, but once bald eagles
pair off, they tend to stay in the same place, and stay together. Sound
romantic? Really, it's territorial.

"Eagles, and raptors in
general, are more dedicated to the territory than they are to each
other," explains Naumann. "Once they've established a territory, they
stay together for quite a long time."

The live feed allows the
DNR's specialists greater access to the birds' habits. Last year, the
camera helped them study behaviors ranging from how often the male and
female trade off hunting food with incubating eggs, to how they build
the nest.

"They're always moving sticks around," Naumann says.
"Even if they come to the nest just to hang out for a few minutes,
they're rearranging furniture."

Incubation station.

via the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource's live cam

The branch of the DNR that runs
the camera is non-game wildlife, a program that studies animals that
aren't hunted or fished, and gets most of its funding from the optional
"chickadee" check-off box on Minnesotans' tax forms. Along with the
eagle cam, they have a live feed set up on a peregrine falcon nest box
in downtown St. Paul, and during the summer, another in the fish tank at
the Minnesota State Fair. A fourth, a buffalo cam, is in the works at
one of the state parks.

Eggs still there?

via the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource's live cam

Once the cameras start up for the season, the DNR doesn't turn them off. Even when nature -- and its violent side -- happens.

"They bring ducks and squirrels into the
nest, and that's something for the public to keep in mind," Naumann says. "It's nature,
and we're not going to turn the camera off."